On Wednesday, March 30, at 4:00 PM (Dubai) / 8:00 AM EST the Climate Investment Funds will host the session ‘Mobilizing funds from capital markets to tackle climate challenge in MENA’ at the Middle East and Northern Africa Climate Week 2022 Summit.
The MENA region is full of clean energy transition potential, IRENA estimates that if just 5% of the regions renewable energy was utilized it could generate more than half of the electricity mix by 2050. But in order to start this process, lower income countries need access to sustainable capital. Over the past decade, capital markets have changed and adjusted to expectations that the financial sector will help transform the economic system to be sustainable and equitable. Integrating sustainability considerations into investment decisions and utilizing market initiatives focused on climate action are becoming more and more common.
So far, mainstreaming sustainable finance remains limited to developed and higher income countries. Out of 20+issues of green bonds, there has been only several emerging markets issuing green bonds. Out of $1 trillion of green bonds issued globally, less than 1% of that has been issued in MENA and Sub-Saharan Africa.
The ‘Mobilizing funds from capital markets to tackle climate challenge in MENA’ session will focus on exploring existing experience and opportunities for MENA countries in accessing capital markets for their green/climate investments, including recent green bonds issued by Egypt and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and from the lens of private sector financial institutions and investors.
Speakers include:
- Dr. Ekaterina (Katya) Gratcheva, Lead Finance Officer, Climate Investment Funds
- Dr. Zamir Iqbal, Vice President (Finance & Administration) & CFO, Islamic Development Bank (IsDB)
- Lydia Harvey, Executive Director and ESG Specialist, J.P. Morgan
- Guly Sabahi, Senior Advisor, Climate Finance, the NDC Partnership
- Eman Abdelazim, Head of External Debt, Ministry of Finance, Egypt
- Steven Liberatore, Head of ESG/Fixed Income, Nuveen
Click here for virtual participation.